World Briefing | Asia: Philippines: Landslide Buries Village

A landslide rumbled down a mountainside on eastern Leyte island Friday morning, burying hundreds of houses and a school packed with elementary-school students, local officials said. Senator Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said an entire village appeared to have been buried, with perhaps 200 dead and 1,500 missing. "There is no body count yet, it's our estimate," he said by telephone from Geneva. "We're mobilizing rescue operations. This areas is infamous for landslides." One survivor, Dario Libatan, told Manila radio DZMM: "It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled. I could not see any house standing anymore."